RealTime Talent (RTT) was awarded a $200,000 grant from Medica to reduce certified nursing assistant shortages in long term care and older adult service facilities by implementing a newly designed training approach that will increase talent attraction and retention in this segment of health care. RTT is hosting the only Long Term Care Talent Pipeline Management® (TPM) Collaborative in the state. TPM helps employers improve their return on investment in various recruiting and retention processes by addressing talent issues using research and data-informed insights.

Minnesota is currently facing unprecedented worker shortages. The participating long term care and older adult services employers need to hire nearly 3,200 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in the 2022-2024 timeframe. Yet, only 44% of qualified educational program participants become CNAs.

RTT helps to fill this gap using the TPM model to support collaboration with community-based organizations, training providers and employers to inform decisions about programming and the populations they serve. Employers and local organizations are then able to focus on the specific workforce needs of the people who work in these specific areas by implementing workforce solutions that directly relate to the pain points employers are experiencing.

Employers involved in the program include Care Providers of Minnesota, Ebenezer, Healthy Helpful Insight Healthcare Institute, HIRED, Hmong American Partnership, International Institute of Minnesota, LeadingAge Minnesota, Presbyterian Homes & Services and Vista Prairie Communities.

For this TPM collaborative the employers face shrinking pools of qualified talent, limited retention for those hired, and an increasing need for their services. Minnesota’s population demographics have long shone a light on the growing need for older adult healthcare services. This employer-led effort helps employers share promising practices and develop a more unified voice to communicate what skills and competencies are needed for the positions they are working to fill.

Through the project, participating employers will support talent providers throughout the training process: before, during, and after training. Students, who will have all training costs covered through the program receive contingent job offers during training, and benefit by wrap around services that will support their ongoing career goals in this segment of healthcare. The program intentionally focuses on hiring and retaining underrepresented populations.

“The employers participating in this TPM collaborative have stayed the course since launching this work just prior to the pandemic,” said Deb Broberg, Executive Director RealTime Talent. “We have been working to identify funding that will allow them to test the training solution that’s been developed in collaboration with specific community-based organizations who offer Certified Nursing Assistant training. With this funding from Medica, employers will be positioned to fund subsequent training seats as they hire graduates providing a revolving fund that eliminates the fee for training in subsequent cohorts. We look forward to being able to measure the benefits for the students, training partners and employers.”

“Medica welcomes the opportunity to support this unique program that serves critical Minnesota populations,” said JoAnn Birkholz, Medica Foundation & Community Giving Executive Director. “RTT’s approach will create a long-lasting and sustainable effect on the workforce for years to come.”

About RealTime Talent

RealTime Talent is a fee-for service employer-led public private collaborative that provides research and tools to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the workforce and education ecosystem in Minnesota. Since 2016, RealTime Talent has worked to better align Minnesota’s workforce by connecting education and training partners with the needs of business using labor market data, innovative facilitation techniques, and action research. RealTime Talent’s mission is to drive more informed, market-oriented decisions in education and workforce development to ensure Minnesota businesses will be able to find highly skilled, work-ready local talent, and Minnesota workers will be able to find high-quality, well-paying local careers.

About Medica

Medica (www.medica.com) is a non-profit health plan headquartered in Minnesota. The company serves communities in the heart of America by providing health care coverage and related services in the employer, individual, Medicaid and Medicare markets. It operates in Minnesota, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Medica’s vision is to be trusted in the community for our unwavering commitment to high quality, affordable health care.

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